Bone loss in young women with karyotypically normal spontaneous premature ovarian failure.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effects of karotypically normal spontaneous premature ovarian failure on femoral neck bone mineral density.


METHODS
Eighty-nine women with karyotypically normal spontaneous premature ovarian failure who desired fertility were evaluated at a tertiary care academic center and underwent hip and spinal bone density measurements by conventional dual-photon absorptiometry. Seventy-seven of the women (87%) had sought medical advice previously and had taken a variety of estrogen and progestin replacement regimens at least intermittently. The median (range) age was 32 (20-39) years, and the median (range) time since diagnosis was 1.5 (0.5-11) years. Findings were compared with a reference group of 218 regularly menstruating women of similar age.


RESULTS
Sixty of the 89 women with premature ovarian failure (67%, 95% confidence interval 57, 77) had a femoral neck bone mineral density more than 1 standard deviation (SD) below the mean of the reference group (P < .001, chi2 with Yates correction). Even in women in whom the bone mineral density measurement was made within just 1.5 years of the diagnosis, nearly one-half (47%) had a femoral neck bone mineral density more than 1 SD below the mean of the reference group (P < .01).


CONCLUSIONS
Two-thirds of young women with karyotypically normal spontaneous premature ovarian failure have a femoral neck bone mineral density more than 1 SD below the mean of a reference group. These young women need early education regarding strategies to maintain their bone mass and ongoing medical evaluation to maintain compliance with these strategies.
Anasti
J N
JN
Section on Women's Health, Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Clinical Center Nursing Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1862, USA.
Kalantaridou
S N
SN
Kimzey
L M
LM
Defensor
R A
RA
Nelson
L M
LM
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005272:Femur Neck / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D016649:Primary Ovarian Insufficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013131:Spine / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*